For hours, the protesters — about two dozen in total — parked their cars in the middle of the road, unfurling banners reading "Dump Trump" and "Must Stop Trump," and chanting "Trump is hate." Traffic was backed up for miles, with drivers honking in fury.

The road was eventually cleared and protesters marched down the highway to the rally site, weaving between Trump supporters who booed and jeered them.

"Learn to speak English," one Trump supporter shouted at the protesters. "You can't even show your face," another pro-Trump attendee said to a protester with a bandanna over her face.

Trump and Arpaio have formed a political alliance in recent months, and the billionaire hopes Arizona can serve as a model on how he could win in November.

The tough-talking lawman won six straight elections as sheriff of Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and nearly two-thirds of Arizona's population. He forced jail inmates to wear pink underwear and live outside in tents during triple-digit heat. Arpaio launched dragnets to round up people in the country who were in the country illegally, and a judge ruled that his operations illegally targeted Latinos. Arpaio then launched an investigation that critics contend ended up targeting the judge.

In Fountain Hills, thousands gathered for the outdoor rally in the suburb where Arpaio lives. Officers with the sheriff's department were posted throughout the park, on rooftops and on patrol. Officers wearing bulletproof vests stood alongside a Humvee with a gun turret on top.

Trump told the crowd that he is "winning by massive landslides" and vowed to rebuild the military and build a border wall with Mexico. He drew cheers from the crowd when he vowed to protect the Second Amendment — which for pro-gun Arizona is a particularly important issue.

He never acknowledged the earlier blockade or the protesters in the crowd.

As Trump looks toward the general election, Arpaio and Arizona — the next major state to vote in the presidential nominating contest — show how conservative populists can thrive even in states with growing minority populations. Arizona votes Tuesday in a winner-take-all Republican primary as well as a Democratic race.

Earlier Saturday, about 50 protesters gathered outside the Phoenix Convention Center where Fox News host Sean Hannity was set to interview Trump. They held signs, played music and made speeches, calling Trump "despicable" and "a fascist." One of them, Salvador Reza, said: "He's working to create division."

Trump supporters trickled through protesters and security to attend — many wearing red, white and blue.

Jason Kitson, 41, from Phoenix, said Trump's hardline stance on immigration is what's needed in Arizona to prevent cross-border drug and human smuggling.

Kitson said the wall Trump vows to building all along the Mexican border may or may not be realistic, but it "is getting people's attention."

Several thousand miles away in New York, demonstrators also took to the streets to protest the Republican presidential hopeful.

Opening his first official week in office, President Donald Trump warned business leaders Monday that he would impose a "substantial border tax" on companies that move their manufacturing out of the United States, while promising tax advantages to companies that produce products domestically.

Opening his first official week in office, President Donald Trump warned business leaders Monday that he would impose a "substantial border tax" on companies that move their manufacturing out of the United States, while promising tax advantages to companies that produce products domestically.

Pledging emphatically to empower America's "forgotten men and women," Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking command of a riven nation facing an unpredictable era under his assertive but untested leadership.

Pledging emphatically to empower America's "forgotten men and women," Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking command of a riven nation facing an unpredictable era under his assertive but untested leadership.

Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump traded in his beloved private plane for a military jet Thursday and swooped into Washington for three days of inaugural festivities. As the president-elect left New York behind, the capital braced for an onslaught of inaugural crowds and demonstrators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump traded in his beloved private plane for a military jet Thursday and swooped into Washington for three days of inaugural festivities. As the president-elect left New York behind, the capital braced for an onslaught of inaugural crowds and demonstrators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, adopted a tough new line on Russia on Wednesday, calling it a "danger" to the United States and saying he would have recommended a muscular response to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, adopted a tough new line on Russia on Wednesday, calling it a "danger" to the United States and saying he would have recommended a muscular response to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

Opening his first news conference since the election, President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to suggestions that U.S. intelligence agencies leaked unsubstantiated reports to the media about his relationship with Russia, calling it a "tremendous blot on their record if they did that."

Opening his first news conference since the election, President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to suggestions that U.S. intelligence agencies leaked unsubstantiated reports to the media about his relationship with Russia, calling it a "tremendous blot on their record if they did that."

Sen. Jeff Sessions cast himself as a strong protector of law and order at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, promising that as attorney general he would crack down on illegal immigration, gun violence and the "scourge of radical Islamic terrorism."

Sen. Jeff Sessions cast himself as a strong protector of law and order at his confirmation hearing Tuesday, promising that as attorney general he would crack down on illegal immigration, gun violence and the "scourge of radical Islamic terrorism."

Donald Trump's "first order of business" will be to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and replace it, but Republicans must avoid hurting consumers as they do that, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday.

Donald Trump's "first order of business" will be to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and replace it, but Republicans must avoid hurting consumers as they do that, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday.